S.B.H.

I did well without it, but I think I would have done better if I had taken a course. Some universities offer cheap prep courses. My school offered one for $150. If you study on your own you can do well, you just need to be disciplined and make the time. I think the hardest part of the test to study for without a class is the logic game section. I undoubtably would have done better with some guidance on taking that section. If you can find it on the cheap it is worth it, but on the other hand I don't think paying a grand to KAPLAN is worth it.

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uagirliegirl

Do you think 161 is a good score? If so than you can do well without a prep course. I didn't take one, and I scored 161. I bought a Kaplin book, read through it and then took about 10 practice LSATS (you can buy these at a bookstore). I took the tests under actual conditions (timed, early in the morning, on Saturdays, etc).

I'm personally not a big fan of paying big fees for test prep courses. My sister took Kaplan and improved about 4 points. I took the test after studying only the prior exams that come in with your registration and make a 162. Then I went and picked up the LSAT 180 book from (can't remember who makes it), studied in a more paced manner and improved to a 170.

Your biggest improvement will come on the logic/problem sections. You should develop a system for those babbies pretty quickly. The reading comp section is probably out of your hands by this point.

i scored a 166(95th %ile) without taking a prep course, and on practice tests i was averaging higher. prepcourses are a complete waste of money unless you can't keep yourself focused and need the structure to stay on schedule. like thepope said, i knew people that spent $1000+ on courses and went up only a few points, while i studied on my own and went up by 15. buy an lsat book, i used 'mastering the lsat,' and all the preptests you can from lsac. go through the book, supplementing with preptests, then do a preptest every other day or so, going over every answer the next day and figuring out why each is right or wrong. good luck.

Tom

I scored 177 on the June LSAT test and did not take a course.I did a total of 12 former LSAT test starting 2 months before the actual test.My practice scores ranged between 174-180, so they were a good predictor for me.I have to admit that I do well on standardized test (I scored 700 on the SAT verbal when I was in 7th grade, and when I took it again my junior year in HS I scored 800.